SansTortoise

2 minutes ago, Barson said:

Do you get the CR1 visa from the embassy? 
 

I thought you would get the stamped visa at the point of entry?

 

thanks both for the reply

The CR-1 visa is the document fixed in your passport by the embassy or consulate that gives you permission to seek admission to the United States as an immigrant at a port of entry.

Said in layman’s terms: its permission for you to get in the plane.

58 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

It does seem odd that none of the immigration officials seem to be familiar with their own policies. https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/after-the-interview/entry-on-an-immigrant-visa/#:~:text=You may not enter the,of the U.S. Citizen petitioner.

You clearly haven’t worked with the government much…

I’d also add the strictness on this probably partially depends on if the country is a fraud risk. Europe and contractor so I’m assuming Germany or similar. Not much fraud coming from the wealthier countries in the EU.

6 minutes ago, Faraz Hanif said:

Meaning AP is handling by department of state in DC? Yes I know. 
 

Do you think the embassy will Adjudicate the case or file a motion to dismiss by seeing other cases?

The embassy doesn’t get a say. It’s decided by the Assistant U.S. Attorney your case lands with.

3 hours ago, Coffee2Go said:

 

Hello pushbrk, thanks for answering my post.

 

I received an RFE with the following response:

 

You submitted a foreign language document that appears to be a Marriage certificate "my name" and "my spouse's name".

However, you did not include a certified English translation of the document. Any document that is not in English must be submitted with a complete and certified
English translation. You must submit both of the following: A complete, accurate and certified English translation of the entire document, including a translation of the registrar’s name and information, signature and stamp of the civil authority;
AND
A new photocopy of the corresponding foreign language document.

 

When my wife and I were going through the process, we had requested that the Marriage Certificate would be dual in German and English, because we knew this would be needed in the future when decided on the immigration process.

 

This doesn't make any sense, and maybe the agent on my case missed the English part but it's obvious that every field category is translated. This is why I'm trying to find someone to speak with and save myself a couple hundred more euro for translating and sending the evidence.

Do you or your wife have a sufficient level of both German and English to provide an accurate translation even if the English part wasn’t there?

If so, you are allowed to do the translation yourself and self-certify. I’m assuming the answer to the above is “yes” since you’re writing here in English about a marriage to a German national.

If the biggest concern is cost, it seems like the most straightforward answer is to certify the translation yourself — which USCIS allows — certified does not mean professional.

It’d also probably be quicker than getting a response from them. Yes, it’s stupid. But give them what they want and move on.

Also — if you need additional documents translated you don’t need to pay. Your English looks to be sufficient to self-translate for USCIS and presumably your husband is fluent in English and Spanish since he originally is from Peru and is now a USC.

You guys can self-translate and certify your fluency in both languages on your own.

25 minutes ago, OldUser said:

I think you explained this in great detail. I-130 is reviewed by USCIS, but passport is issued by DOS.

 

If you search the web, you'll see examples when USCIS requested other proof of US citizenship than US passport. It's rare but it happens. Not saying it will be needed in OPs case for sure.

Not that government agencies not following the law as written doesn’t occur, but if those internet stories are real, USCIS would be directly violating the U.S. Code:  22 USC 2705 makes a passport equivalent to a naturalization certificate or citizenship certificate.

I get that people want to play it safe, but the short answer to OP’s question is that the law is clear that a valid U.S. passport is legally equivalent to a citizenship certificate or naturalization. My overall view is that when the law is clear that something that somebody already has is sufficient, we shouldn’t be telling them to spend more money in an already expensive process on the off chance USCIS decides to not follow the law.

9 hours ago, OldUser said:

I strongly suggest getting one. You may be asked to present it by USCIS at other stages of your beneficiary's immigration process.

 

It's also not uncommon to get asked for it when renewing US passport or getting benefits from SSA.

 

Obtaining it takes time, the last thing you want is to be turned away in the future for not having it.

 

It's a vital document, just like Birth Certificate.

A valid US passport is absolute proof of citizenship.
 

If one has it there is no need for a citizenship certificate because the Department of State has determined that the individual in question is a U.S. citizen.

That’s why adults without CRBA can apply for a passport and bypass USCIS entirely.

There was talk ages ago of moving passport issuance to USCIS, but because of their poor reputation within the confines of DC that never happened because getting citizenship determination and passport issuance right was too important.

Short of it is: a valid passport is all that is needed to prove citizenship to the U.S. government. That includes for immigration purposes.

2 hours ago, pushbrk said:

As soon as you have your W2.  Employers have until the end of January to get those to you.

 

Since making posts about taxes is my thing as the traditional lurker today…

3/15 is the absolute latest most people should have all tax forms. 1099s come 2/15 and K-1s come Marchish.

If someone has no investments file in February. If someone has investments wait until early March since surprise K-1s are a thing.

K-1 being both the most annoying tax form and a visa can be added to the list of things the government should rethink.

14 minutes ago, bondy88 said:

Easy solution is to file Single and then amend later. You have three years to amend your taxes. Getting an ITIN is very tedious and time consuming for a foreign spouse even if you paper file your return. You would need to submit the original foreign spouse's passport (risk of losing it in mail) or a certified copy from the passport issuing agency to the IRS or use one of their CAA's if they are available in the spouse's country.  Even if you get an ITIN, you likely would miss on tax credits that are only available to people with an SSN such an EITC. So filing an MFJ return with ITIN instead of amending with an SSN later is not beneficial.

Most people sponsoring spouses to come to the U.S. don’t qualify for the EITC, so that’s unlikely to be applicable in many circumstances.

Everyone has a unique tax situation and when it involves foreign income it’s complex enough to hire a professional and not TurboTax it.

This is a DIY forum for how to fill out immigration paperwork — the answer OP’s been given for immigration purposes is correct — it doesn’t matter.
 

Multi jurisdictional tax issues are much more complex than the I-130, though and consulting a qualified CPA who has experience dealing with international tax in individual returns would give a definitive answer and would likely save OP significant money now rather than in 2-3 years.

I am a CPA but I wouldn’t consider figuring it out on my own because the situation is abnormal enough that TurboTaxing it or asking on a forum is unlikely to get you to the best answer from an income tax perspective.

Hire a real CPA for your taxes that has experience with foreign income.

It’ll save you thousands of dollars. You’ll likely also get a refund this year in either of the married statuses, so if MFJ is most advantageous the CPA can help you file for an extension on your tax return.

If you go the file single and amend route I would even more suggest a CPA. Yes, you can self-file for any U.S. tax situation, but typically it’s advisable to hire a CPA when you’re dealing with income from two different U.S. states. Two different countries even more so.

3 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

I'm not aware of a way to request such a change.  Dropping the maternal name on the I-130 does not remove the requirement to have the name on the DS 260 match the passport resulting in the visa and green card being issued in the passport name.  The solution that comes to mind is to drop it in the current passport.  Is that possible in his country?

Unfortunately, no. Both surnames are required.

I saw some old posts on here/other Internet forums that suggested that there was a USCIS/State disconnect on this and that I-130 under one name would result in a green card under one name even if DS-260 uses both and state would issue the IV under both.
 

But most of those were a decade plus old and were light on details. Figured it was worth asking in case anyone had more recent experience.

5 minutes ago, D-R-J said:

The DS-260 instructions definitely say names should match passport.

 

🤷‍♂️

Right — but I’m specifically asking about I-130 and USCIS and if someone from a Hispanic country has experience getting USCIS to issue a green card using only the paternal last name. Not about naturalization or what the consulate will do.

State is going to issue a visa using the name in the passport.
 

The question is if by filling out I-130 with one name and then listing both last names as other names used, USCIS will process the application/will issue a green card with one last name.

I figured this was a fairly common occurrence since it’s the norm in most of the Hispanic world, but there’s not much on here about the topic.

11 minutes ago, D-R-J said:

Ok, check this link: https://fam.state.gov/fam/08fam/08fam040301.html

 

8 FAM 403.1-5(A)  Acceptable Immaterial Discrepancies

…

 

(5)  Drop a last name if the applicant has two or more last names (e.g., “John Smith Jones” to “John Jones”).  There is no restriction on which of the two last names the applicant may drop.  Even if an applicant drops a last name, it must still be entered into the name clearance field in TDIS/ACS (see 8 FAM 501.3 on entering names for clearance)

Thanks, that seems to suggest that State wouldn’t have any issues with it (even though it doesn’t cover DS-260 within its scope.)

There doesn’t seem to be similar guidance for I-130/USCIS so maybe someone with experience there could chime in.

Just now, D-R-J said:

Hmm. Maybe others will chime in. My wife changed her name during her citizenship process and that was pretty easy if it comes to that.

Yes, I know it’s possible during the citizenship process; but this is more for the green card.

Basically the custom in many Spanish-speaking countries is to have a paternal and maternal last name, but to primarily use the paternal for everything but legal purposes.

He’d prefer to just drop the maternal last name at the green card stage for simplicity’s sake rather than to have two last names and have to legally change it on all the paperwork in 3 years.

My husband (both male) and I are filling out form I-130. He would prefer to drop his maternal last name on US legal documents such as SSN, GC, and eventually passport, but we also don’t want to cause any issue with USCIS/NVC.

Searching the forum, it seems that some people have had luck with using only the paternal last name as the main name, and then using the full last name as an additional name used.

Any advice/experience would be appreciated.